Self-metering lubricating oil pump attachment device



Feb. 10,1970 'RQI- 'LHAYNES j 3,494,512 SELFMETERING LUBRICATING'OIL PUMP. ATTACHMENT DEVICE Q Filed Feb. 7, 1968 I INVENTOR. RICHARD H. HAYNES HTTORNE).

United States Patent 3,494,512 SELF-METERING LUBRICATING OIL PUMP ATTACHMENT DEVICE Richard H. Haynes, 144 Fulton St, New Milford, NJ. 07646 Filed Feb. 7, 1968, Ser. No. 703,650 Int. Cl. G01f 11/30 US. Cl. 222383 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An oiler attachment device for attachment to motor oil cans including a pump body member serving as a handle and having at one end an oil suction tube and at the other end an oil delivery tube. A can lid member is separately attachable over the top of the oil can and includes a central guide opening for the reception of the oil suction tube, the outer end of which is bevelled to a sharp point used to pierce the can. The pump body memher is releaseably connectable to the can lid member and has check valve means at each end to elfect unidirectional flow of oil through the delivery tube. The pump body member is provided with trigger-actuated positive displacement bellows means for pumping the oil through the delivery tube.

This invention relates to lubricating oil pumps or oilers and is directed particularly to a self-metering oil pump attachment device for attachment to an ordinary automotive motor oil can used as a reservoir and source of supply for the oil dispensed.

Pump operated attachment devices for dispensing oil from standard motor oil cans or containers are known. Such attachment devices heretofore devised, however, are deficient in one or more respects, particularly in that they cannot effect positive displacement of the oil in the pumping operation, thereby resulting in drainback and the loss of prime. Also, for the same reason, they cannot deliver a fixed amount of the oil per pump stroke to enable metering of the oil being dispensed.

It is, accordingly, the principal object of this invention to provide a self-metering lubricatin oil pump attachment device of the character described which obviates the deficiencies of oiler attachment devices heretofore produced.

A more particular object is to provide a lubricating oil pump attachment device wherein positive displacement is achieved by the use of check valves effecting unidirectional flow in the oil discharge system.

Still another object is to provide a lubricating oil pump attachment device of the above nature utilizing a bellows type pump moveable between predetermined limit positions, thereby dispensing a metered unit of oil with each stroke.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when read with reference to the accompanying drawmgs.

In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a self-metering lubricating oil pump attachment device embodying the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows, on an enlarged scale. 7

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the numeral 10 designates, generally, a preferred form of pump attachment device embodying my invention, the same being shown attached to a standard one quart motor oil can for dispensing the oil contained therein by metering pump action as is hereinbelow described. The self-metering lubricating attachment device is comprised of a can lid member 12, separately attachable to a standard oil can 11, and a pump body member 13 attachable to said can lid member and operative to tap said oil can for volumetric dispensing of oil in the manner and by means hereinbelow more particularly described.

The can lid member 12 comprises a circular cover plate 14 preferably struck of sheet metal and integrally formed with equi-distantly spaced, downwardly-extending can lock sprin clips 15 formed with inwardly-reversely-bent portions 16, as best illustrated in FIG. 2. The lock spring clips 15 are adapted to securely hold the can lid member 12 in place over one end of a standard oil can 11 when attached thereto by resiliently locking under the usual peripheral can lid 17. An 0 ring 18 is provided within the can lid member 12 against the underside thereof to efiect sealing engagement against the outer peripheral edge of the oil can 11. The circular cover plate 14 of the can lid member 12 is provided with a central, circular through opening 19 surrounding which, in equi-distantly spaced relation, are a pluraliy of upstanding pump body lock clips 20 formed with inwardly-directed, reversely-bent arcuate portions 21, for the purpose hereinafter appearing. The body lock clips 20 are preferably formed of spring steel, and may be either spot-welded or riveted against the outside of the can lid member cover plate 14. The cover plate 14 is also provided with a circular vent opening 22 for the inflow of air displacing oil dispensed from the can.

The pump body member 13 comprises a tubular handle member 23 having an internal bore 24 communicating at the lower end with a bore of increased diameter 25 defining therewith an annular seat 26. Seated against the annular seat 26 is a helical compression spring 27, the outer end of which resiliently constrains a valve ball 28 against an annular valve seat 29 formed at the outer end of an oil suction tube 30 threaded into the outer end portion of the bore of increased diameter 25 at the lower end of the tubular handle member 23. The lower end of the tubular handle member 23 is provided with an annular recess 32 seated within which is an O-ring 33 for sealing engagement against the outside of the can lid member 12 when attached thereto, as hereinafter described. Also provided near the lower end of the tubular handle member 23 is a peripheral groove 34 so located and shaped as to effect interlocking engagement therewith of the can lid member lock clips 20 when the pump body member 13 is assembled to said lid member, as illustrated in the drawings.

The upper end of the tubular handle member 23 is provided with a bore of increased diameter 35 merging with the upper end of the internal bore 24 to provide an annular valve seat 36 seated against which is a second valve ball 37, said second valve ball being resiliently constrained in place thereat by a helical compression spring 38 held in place at its outer end by a screw plug 39 threaded into the outer end of said bore of increased diameter, as indicated at 40. The lower end of the bore of increased diameter 35, at a position above the valve seat 36, communicates with a transverse discharge port 41 extending into an internally-threaded discharge opening of increased diameter 42 threaded into which is an oil delivery tube 43 terminating in a discharge nozzle 44.

The tubular handle 23 is also provided with an inwardly-extending internally-threaded transverse bore 45, said bore being located approximately one-third the distance down from the outer end of said tubular handle member. The transverse bore 45 communicates with a through bore of decreased diameter 46 forming therewith an annular shoulder 47. Threadingly attached to the internally-threaded transverse bore 45 is a cylinder tube 48, the outer end of which has slidingly fitted therein a cylindrical guide rod 49 integrally formed with a concentric, circular head 50. A flexible cylindrical bellows member 51, which, preferably, is made of a tough, resilient, synthetic plastic material, is fitted over and surrounds the guide rod head 50 and the cylinder tube 48, said bellows member being formed with a closed outer end 52 and an inner end portion 53 overlapping a circular nut 54 threaded over the inner end of said cylinder tube. The outside of the overlapping inner end portion 53 of the flexible cylindrical bellows 51 is clamped in place against a circular lock washer 55 when the cylinder tube 48 is assembled to the tubular handle member 23, said lock washer being formed with an outturned peripheral flange 56 for securely clamping said bellows in place. The cylinder tube 48 is provided, near its inner end and just to the outside of the circular nut 54, with a plurality of transverse, through openings or ports 57. A helical compression spring 58 within the bellows member 51 and constrained between the underside of the circular guide rod head 50 and the circular nut 54 normally holds the guide rod 49 at its outermost limit position, as illustrated in the drawings.

Means is provided to facilitate manual pumping action of the attachment device. To this end, a trigger actuator member 59 is supported on the delivery tube 43 and adjustably positioned thereon as by a nut 60 threaded along said tube. The trigger member 59 overlies the outer end of the cylindrical bellows 51 and can readily be grasped along with the tubular handle member 23 for squeezing the bellows in an oil dispensing operation, as is hereinafter described.

The oil suction tube 30 is preferably long enough to reach the bottom of an oil can 11 when attached thereto as illustrated in FIG. 2, and is cut at a bevel at its outer end as indicated at 61 to form a sharp cutting tip for tapping the oil can upon attachment of the pump body member 13 to the can lid member 12 in the manner now to be described.

In the use of my pump attachment device, the can lid member 12 is first secured to an oil can 11 as described above, after which the pump body member 13 will be assembled in place by positioning the beveled cutting tip 61 at the outer end of the oil suction tube 30 against the top of the oil can through the central can lid member opening 19 and pushing it all the way down into the can so that the lower end of the pump body member 13 will be secured in place against the outside of the can lid member 12 by operation of the pump body lock clips 20, as is hereinabove described. It will be understood that such assembly in place of the pump body member 13 Will pierce the top of the oil can to permit the dispensing of the oil therefrom by pump action.

In operation of the device, the pump body member 13 will be grasped as a handle together with the trigger actuator 59 and said trigger actuator will be squeezed repeatedly several times to purge air from the system or prime the pump. In this operation, air from within the chamber defined by the bellows member 51 will be discharged through the ports 57 in the pump cylinder tube 48, through the bore 46 and through the internal bore 24 of the tubular handle member 23 to unseat the ball valve 37 for discharge through the delivery tube 43. Upon release of the trigger actuator 59, the cylindrical bellows 51 will return to its normally-extended position under the influence of compression spring 58, as shown in the drawings, creating a reduced pressure within the interior of the pump mechanism. Atmospheric air pressure entering the interior of the tapped oil can through the vent openings 22 in the can lid member 12 and the punched opening in the top of the oil can will thereupon force oil up into the pump past the valve ball 28, the pressure of the oil serving to unseat said valve ball against the downward pressure of the associated compression spring 27. It will be understood that when the bellows member 51 is compressed during actuation of the pump, the valve ball 28 at the lower end of the handle member 23 will act as a check valve preventing the downflow of air or oil, and that the valve ball 37 at the upper end of said handle member will unseat so that unidirectional flow is effected, either of air to be purged or oil to be dispensed, upon the actuation of the pump. After all air has been purged from the pump system by actuation of the trigger actuator 59 as described above, the pump attachment device will be ready to deliver metered quantities of oil from the oil can 11 through the discharge nozzle 44 each time the bellows member 51 is squeezed or compressed to its full extent. In this connection it will be noted that the extent of the compressional movement is limited by the abutment of the underside of the guide rod head 50 against the outer end of the cylindrical tube 48, and that such predetermined movement will effect a corresponding discrete volumetric change within the bellows .member 51 which, in turn, governs the precise metered amount of oil to be dispensed with each stroke of the piston. It will also be understood that the volumetric amount of oil to be dispensed or metered can readily be controlled by appropriate selection of bellows size and length of piston stroke.

An important advantage of the above-described pump attachment device embodying my invention resides in the fact that the check valve mechanisms provided at the upper and lower ends of the pump body member 13 insure positive displacement of oil in the direction of the dispensing nozzle and that no drain-back or loss of prime will occur. Another important advantage of the invention is its ability to deliver comparatively large .metered amounts of oil during each stroke of the bellows.

While I have illustrated herein only one form in which my invention can conveniently be embodied in practice, it is to be understood that this form is given by way of example only, and not a limiting sense. The invention, in brief, comprises all the embodiments and modifications coming within the scope and spirit of the following claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A self-metering lubricating oil pump attachment device comprising, in combination, a can lid member having a vent opening and a guide opening therein, a releasable sealing means for attaching said lid member against one end of a cylindrical oil can, a pump body member having an intersecting oil delivery tube at one end and a longitudinally extending oil suction tube at the other end, the outer end of said suction tube being pointed to pierce the can when pushed through a guide opening in said lid member, means resiliently and sealably attaching said pump body member to said lid member with said suction tube inserted in the can, a flow chamber in said pump body member and communicating between said oil suction tube and said oil delivery tube, check valve means for effecting uni-directional flow of oil through said pump body member chamber in the direction of said oil delivery tube, said pump body member including resilient bellows and cylinder pump means, a trigger actuator means for said pump means adjustably supported on said delivery tube and attached to said bellows and pump means for pumping a metered amount of oil from said oil can through said chamber for dispensing from said delivery tube.

2. A self-metering lubricating oil pump attachment device as defined in claim 1 wherein said check valve means comprises annular valve seats at opposite ends of said chamber, a ball valve for each of said valve seats, and spring means normally resiliently urging said ball valves in seating engagement with their respective valve seats.

3. A self metering lubricating oil pump attachment device as defined in claim 2 wherein said bellows pump means comprises a cylinder tube connected with said pump body member and communicating with said chamber, a guide rod slidable between inner and outer positions within said cylinder tube, a flexible cylindrical bellows surrounding said guide rod, and spring means normally constraining said guide rod in the outer of its limit positions.

4. A self metering lubricating oil pump attachment device as defined in claim 2 wherein said pump body member is of elongated, substantially cylindrical form to serve as a handle, and wherein said bellows extends sidewardly outwardly of said pump body member for manual actuation by the trigger finger.

5. A self metering lubricating oil pump attachment device as defined in claim 4 wherein said oil delivery tube extends sidewardly outwardly of the outer end of said pump body member in spaced parallel relative disposition with respect to said bellows, and said trigger actuator means is loosely supported at one end by said delivery tube in overlying relation with respect to the outer end of said bellows for use as a trigger in operating the pump.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,055,045 9/1936 Paull 222382 2,091,737 8/1937 Longway 222-83 2,849,160 8/1958 Gray 222383 X 2,982,443 5/1961 Ellis 222-383 X 3,153,385 10/1964 Bowen 222383 X SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner 

